E-Commerce vs M-Commerce – Key Differences
The world today is a lot more diversified than the world of our previous generations. The key player which made a lot, in fact, most of the difference is the invention of the Internet! It made everything so much faster & accessible.
Those days are gone when people used to shop via the brick & mortar stores, roaming & determining what they should purchase & what they shouldn’t. These days, people make their considerations on the online store first, before they make it to the physical stores. It makes all products & services just a click away.
E-Commerce/web stores have been here for a while & M-Commerce is the newest entry in the playground. Before we find out the differences, let us first know both of the concepts as individual terms first!
E-Commerce and M-Commerce
Where both of the above-mentioned terms have a different meaning, both of them aim to make the lives of their customers easier. In plainer words, e-commerce refers to the entire platform where buying & selling of stuff online takes place. Whereas m-commerce is a subcategory of e-commerce which primarily focuses on purchasing via mobile devices!
Key Differences Between E-Commerce & M-Commerce
- MOBILITY
E-commerce basically starts with electronic commerce – where the shopping is done over the internet, easily. All the e-commerce activities are usually conducted on the desktop, or the computers/laptops, leaving people with a place to look at for their transactions.
M-commerce, on the other hand, is the same thing is the same thing happening on the mobile devices. M-commerce benefits people with carrying out their transactions anywhere & everywhere as long as they are accessible to the internet. Simple access to the internet on people’s smartphones will allow them to perform simple transactions just with a couple of taps on the screens!
- LOCATION TRACKING
The devices which are used to the e-commerce activities are in most of the cases non-portable. Whereas the m-commerce apps generally can easily track & identify the location of the users via GPS Technologies, or Wifi or any other technological tool. This, as a result, helps the business-owners to push location specific content & recommendations as well.
- SECURITY
Be it M-commerce Or E-Commerce, security is a vital part any transaction that takes place over the internet. Debit cards & credit cards are the most common form of payment on the internet. People have been using these methods for years, still, they are very skeptical about the same. They are concerned about their privacy & online security as well.
The security inclinations on the Mobile Commerce are much more extensive than the same on the E-Commerce. There are numerous methods such as the two-factor authentication & multi-level authentication which makes the entire security layer much stronger on the MCommerce.
- PERSONAL TOUCH
M-commerce has the option to engage the customers with the application, which the E-Commerce platforms don’t have. For examples, the Push Notifications. They are the most efficient way to bridge the gap between any business or its potential customers. Customers who receive Push-Notifications are more likely to avail the offers & the ongoing stuff than those who don’t get the notifications.
- OTHERS
Besides all this, there are many other differences between the M-commerce & the ECommerce such as the variety of payment options available on the MCommerce than the ECommerce.
The number of people is using e-commerce platforms are constantly increasing because the number of mobile devices used by people is also increasing. Both have their own pros & cons but we think mobile commerce is a better tool to use. All because of the number of benefits it comes with such as portability, accessibility & connectivity!
Rest, the choice is yours!
